Meet this Weekend League Squad With 1,800 Top-Flight Matches
What do you boost a excellent veteran team who have secured back-to-back championships, featuring a double triumph boasting thirty wins from thirty-two games?
Bring in a group of ex- professionals that have competed at the top level of club and international soccer as you target further honors.
A Manchester team has an non-professional vets squad with nine ex- Premier League players in their present squad.
222 Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances
Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are located in southern the city and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Top Tier.
Their lineup this campaign features 9 former top-flight players, with a combined over 1,800 Premier League appearances.
The elite roster also includes over 220 Premier League scores and over 320 international caps.
The squad include Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 goals in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after signing for them for nine million pounds from German league club SC Freiburg in 2012.
He had his first appearance for the team in their most recent home match versus defending champions their rivals and scored all six goals in a six-two victory - featuring a 32-minute opening period triple.
Wythenshawe's team for this season also features former professionals such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.
Together, the former top-flight footballers have claimed fifteen major honors and moved for total transfer fees of approximately £123m.
Famous Names and Global Players
Ireland started playing for the team in preseason this season through close mate and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then invited other former professionals, who all play in a midweek small-sided match, to participate.
Ex- Senegal striker Niasse, who netted 12 scores in sixty-five top-flight matches for the Toffees and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and wear an Blue training kit as their uniform.
"A friend Stephen said 'join and have a game, it's enjoyable'," said the striker.
"After that he told me we were facing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Blue shirts - I say this is wrong for me!
"If you still enjoy football and you feel you can still play, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?
"Those people who turn up and see are happy and to make someone's moment if they watch us playing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the joy of us getting somewhere we can play, with structure of course."
So great is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, he made his debut at defender.
"That's a little different but then, I enjoy running and just go inside - I'm not defending that much," he said.
"I warn my centre-back 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.
"That movement is what I'm after. It's good fun."
'Surreal Feeling
In addition to Cisse's 6 goals on his first game, Ireland has netted 8 in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit five on his debut match and Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a hat-trick in one game as a striker.
The team are top of the Top Division with 3 wins from three and a GD of plus nineteen.
One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced former Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.
Figueroa has played at 2 global tournaments for his country, in addition to playing in over 200 Premier League matches.
"It was spreading like wildfire they had all these former top-flight stars," remarked the player.
"I think I was a little awestruck playing against Figueroa to be honest.
"Also Emile [Heskey] got on and he's got over 60 England caps.
"We competed well for a good twenty mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.
"Our group literally haven't ceased chatting about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the way home.
"The opponents were all really nice, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a bunch of normal guys.
"Now we are eager for the return fixture."
We Will Still Win the Title'
The manager coaches the Collegiate vets team, who secured the Top Division title the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.
"Our team scored 1-0 up and had a